


The Road Not Taken

by QuoteMyFoot



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Angst, Birthright's ending still hurts me, Canonical Character Death, Elise is too cute, Family, Gen, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Spoilers for Birthright, spoilers for conquest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 21:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14601972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuoteMyFoot/pseuds/QuoteMyFoot
Summary: In Askr, Leo from the Birthright timeline meets Elise from Conquest.





	The Road Not Taken

The Askr kingdom's summoning wasn't that different to the teleport spells which Leo was familiar with from his own world. Of course, it was much more advanced than anything that existed in Nohr, but as a magical spell, he could understand it. The idea that there were other universes – multiple versions of his own _self,_ even – was a little harder to come to terms with, although intellectually, the idea of parallel universes was very interesting.

But it wasn't until he found himself hug-tackled with a familiar shriek of delight that Leo really, truly grasped the meaning of _multiple universes_.

"Leo, you're here too!" Elise said. She let go of him and spun around, laughing. "Isn't this exciting? Visiting other worlds is so cool! Hey, have you seen Xander and Camilla? Is Corrin here yet? I tried to ask that summoning person but he wouldn't tell me anything!" She stopped spinning and peered at him, biting her lip. "Hey… are you okay?"

Leo realised there were tears in his eyes and he hastily blinked them away. He'd forgotten how excessively cheerful she was. He'd _forgotten._ When they'd laid her to rest, they'd put her hands over her chest in the traditional pose, but it had looked so unnatural on Elise, who was always dancing or waving or cheering—

Camilla hadn't even been able to look at her. Leo had made himself say one last goodbye, but he hadn't realised how much that last image of her had affected him. Elise, silent and still.

And now here she was, like she'd never died at all.

"Sorry, Xander, Camilla and Corrin aren't here yet. How is everyone at home?" he said carefully. It was partially a distraction, and partially because he had to _know._

"Oh, well…" Elise waved her hand about dismissively, rolling her eyes. "Xander's being all kingly and such, he's so busy now! Camilla and Niles got married, took them long enough… Princess Sakura came to the wedding, on behalf of Queen Hinoka—I think it was mainly to see Corrin, but she was really nice!" She looked at Leo, scuffing the dirt with her shoe. "Do you think… she'll want to be friends with me? After everything?"

Leo closed his eyes for a moment. So, Xander lived too. And by the sounds of things, Prince Ryoma had died… and Corrin stayed with them, in Nohr. He could picture it easily, their whole family together, supporting Xander as king.

Just like he'd always imagined things would be.

"Hey, brother, are you sure you're okay?" Elise played with one of her pigtails. "I'm not bothering you, am I?"

"Of course not," Leo said. "I'm sorry, being in Askr has been… a little strange."

"It does seem a bit weird," Elise allowed.

Leo patted her head. "About Princess Sakura… it could take years before she feels ready to be friends with you. But… one day, I'm sure you'll get along well."

"Oh… good! Azura talked about her a lot, so…"

Azura? Arete's daughter? …It was probably best not to press on how she and Elise became acquainted. He'd give himself away, and for now…

Elise bounced on the tips of her toes and grinned at him suddenly. "Do you have time to play a game with me?"

Leo couldn't think of anything he would rather do. He smiled and offered Elise his hand. She grabbed it with a laugh.

At some point, he might have to explain things to Elise. At the very least, he'd someday have to go back to _his_ Nohr. But for now…

For now, Leo just wanted to have his little sister back.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt on the Fire Emblem subreddit. Short, but I felt like it didn't need anything else. Let me know what you think!


End file.
